Talking points: Sometimes having the right man in the right place at the right time still leads to the wrong result

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Sometimes a team can have the right guy up at the plate at the right time against the right pitcher and still have things turn out all wrong.

So it went for the Astros in a 4-3 defeat against the Florida Marlins in the home opener at Minute Maid Park.

Trailing by a run in the eighth inning, with Michael Bourn perched on third with one out, Hunter Pence came to the plate to face Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. Really, Astros manager Brad Mills couldn’t have asked for a better matchup under the circumstances: Pence has a history not just of hitting Nolasco, who had thrown 97 pitches to that point, but hitting him hard.

Entering Friday night’s game, Pence was 3-for-10 with three home runs against Nolasco. Pence lashed a double off a curveball in his first trip to the plate Friday. Though Pence made outs in his next two trips to the plate, he made Nolasco throw seven pitches in the third inning and 10 in the sixth.

Nolasco ran through his entire repertoire during that sixth-inning confrontation. Fastball. Slider. Curve. Splitter. Ultimate, a slider delivered a groundout to third base.

With Bourne having just stolen third, Nolasco and Pence had yet another battle of wills. Like the previous at bat, this one went two pitches. Two fastballs. Two sliders. A slider. A fastball. Then a slider. Another slider. Another slider. The count was 3-2, and Pence had fouled off four pitches by then. He laced one of those pitches down the right-field line, only to have it curl just foul.

“There are so many things going on,” Pence said. “The infield is in. I’ve just got to put the ball in play.”

On deck was cleanup hitter Carlos Lee, who hadn’t gotten the ball out if the infield in his first three bats. Nolasco threw one last slider to Pence, who swung and missed. Lee popped weakly to first, ending the threat and allowing the Marlins to trade solo home runs in the ninth and still win.

“I definitely feel like I let the team down,” Pence said.

Baseball is a sport of failure, especially when it comes to hitting, but Pence does so less than most in game-on-the-line situations. Pence was 11-for-25 (.440) with a runner on third and less than two outs last season, driving home a run 21 times. He is a .305 hitter in that situation in his career.

What’s more, in what baseball-reference.com categorizes as high-leverage situations – the ones most likely to sway the outcome of a game – Pence batted .403 (52-for-129) last season. Pence is batting .315 and slugging .561 in high-leverage situations over his career.

On Friday, all that was small consolation for Pence.

“Ultimately,” Pence said, “it came down to me not getting the job done.”

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Bud Norris is looking to become the first Astros starter to win a game this season. AP

The Astros are looking to righthander Bud Norris (0-1, 11.25 earned run average) to get the job done Saturday against the Marlins. In his first outing six days ago against the Philadelphia Phillies, Norris got worked over for five runs on six hits (including home runs to Ryan Howard and Ben Francisco) in four innings. Norris made mistake after mistake with a fastball that averaged 93 mph.

He has his problems against the Marlins, posting a 1-1 record and 6.89 ERA. In 15 2/3 innings, Norris has allowed 22 hits (including three home runs against the Marlins. Norris is 9-7 with a 4.50 ERA at Minute Maid.

Marlins hitters Norris hates to face: Hanley Ramirez (4-for-9, .444, with a double and a home run).

Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez will send righthander Javier Vazquez to the mound (0-1, 15.43). Vazquez, 34, has a career record of 152-150 that includes a 4-5, 4.37 line against the Astros. While the Astros have touched up Vazquez for 13 homers in 90 2/3 innings, he is 2-2 with a 2.85 ERA in five starts at Minute Maid.

Astros hitters Vazquez hates to face: Carlos Lee (4-for-15, .267, with three home runs); Hunter Pence (2-for-6, one home run).

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Astros lefthander Wandy Rodriguez has 11 consecutive quality starts at Minute Maid Park (1.56 earned run average). … First baseman Brett Wallace tied a career high with three hits on Friday. Marlins left fielder Logan Morrison also tied his career with three hits. … Pitcher Ricky Nolasco’s seventh-inning single off Rodriguez ended the Marlins’ streak of 16 at-bats without a hit with runners in scoring position.